HYDERABAD, Dec 4: Secretary General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Iqbal Haider has said that a sense of insecurity was prevailing among minorities in Sindh.

He was speaking at the general body meeting of the HRCP Sindh chapter at the press club on Sunday.

Others who spoke on the occasion were Sindh HRCP Vice Chairperson Zohra Yousuf, Jam Saqi, PPP MPA Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Advocate Zafar Rajput, Amar Sindhu and Nasreen Shakeel Pathan.

Council members from Sindh districts informed the HRCP officials about the human rights situation in their localities and stressed the need of stepping up activities of the HRCP.

Mr Iqbal Haider said that cases of forced conversion were increasing in Sindh.

He said even the judiciary was not able to help people to get rid of the feudal and tribal traditions prevailing in the society.

The secretary general of the HRCP criticized President General Pervez Musharraf for accusing NGOs of tarnishing the image of the state.

He said that the rulers themselves who had always remained silent over human rights abuses brought bad name to the country.

“The rulers always blamed NGOs for their own shortcomings,” he said.

Mr Haider said that the society was mired in the feudal and tribal culture.

He said the triangle of civil and military establishments and judiciary had been protecting feudalism.

He said that the feudal lord believed in extortion, influenced voters, usurped the rights of labourers and peasants and involved in discrimination against women.

“We are living in a tyrannical society where inhuman traditions were flourishing,” he observed.

Discussing the Hudood laws, he said that they were not Islamic. He said that enlightened religious scholars had declared the Hudood ordinance un-Islamic.

Mr Haider said the law was used as a tool against women during the Zia regime. “Not only women but Hudood laws also concerned minorities,” he said.

The HRCP officer criticized the fact that Hindu students were being forced to read the subject of Islamiyat in schools.

He said that giving 20 grace marks only to Muslim students for memorizing Quran was discriminatory.

Mr Haider suggested that the grace marks should be given to all students belonging to different faiths for memorizing their religious books.

He claimed that the sense of insecurity among minorities was increasing on account of forced conversion of girls who were allegedly marrying Muslim men.

The secretary general said that 19 FIRs on kidnapping of Hindu girls were had been lodged in Karachi.

He said Pakistan’s image could only be improved when minorities were protected and the honour killings were curbed.